Natives For Your Neighborhood
Conservation of rare plants, animals, and ecosystems

General Landscape Uses: Buffer plantings.

Availability: Native plant nurseries. Available at Indian Trails Native Nursery in Lake Worth, and in Naples at Everglades Native Designs, in Sanibel at Captiva Conservation Foundation, in Melbourne at Native Butterfly Flowers .

Description: Medium shrubby wildflower with erect stems and dark green leaves.

Dimensions: About 4-8 feet in height. Taller than broad.

Growth Rate: Fast.

Range: Monroe County Keys north to Brevard, Okeechobee and Levy counties; West Indies and Central America. Very rare in the Monroe County Keys and perhaps confined to Big Pine Key and nearby islands.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

 Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.

 Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.

Habitats: Forest edges.

Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with humusy top layer.

Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.

Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.

Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.

Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.

Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.

Flower Color: Yellow.

Flower Characteristics: Showy.

Flowering Season: All year.

Fruit: Brown pod (legume) with light margins.

Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for cloudless sulphur (Phoebis sennae), sleepy orange (Eurema nicippi) and the introduced orange-barred sulphur (Phoebis philea) butterflies. A gland at the base of the leaves attracts ants that attack the butterfly caterpillars. Bees are the primary pollinators.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.

Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.